Free Falling
by Arya Daeriel
Summary: Alex could feel the bones breaking in his fingers and those fingers slipping off the gutter, unable to hold him up any longer. And then he was falling, falling through the air to the street below.


**Disclaimer: Don't own, never have, never will.**

**A/N: Good day, my faithful minions! *tips hat* You have now wandered into a new fic by the torture addicted nutcase known as myself! Now before we begin…. zis is a birthday present to my very wonderful friend, Alya Mirielin! *huggles* Happy Birthday, mellon nin! **

"Where are the stairs?" A voice panted and someone slid to a stop in front of the receptionist's desk.

"That way." The woman sitting behind the desk pointed to the left, not looking up from the papers in front of her. She had had many people come in, late for some appointment or another, and ask where the stairs were. She heard feet slapping the floor as whoever had asked where the stairs were sprinted in the direction , not even pausing to thank her. Looking up, the receptionist saw a fair haired teenage boy disappear up the stairwell.

Alex's sides burned as he ran up staircase after staircase. _How many floors does this bloody building have? _Not to mention only one elevator that the guy he was chasing just _had _to take, leaving Alex with the stairs.

He skidded to a halt when he reached the end of the stairs and a doorway with a plaque spelling out the word "ROOF" affixed to it. It was a fairly good guess to say that the roof was the destination, Alex had decided when he had started running up the stairs. Any other floor would have gotten the guy trapped and the roof was good for a helicopter getaway. Pausing to catch his breath for a minute, Alex pushed the door open.

Standing at the far edge of the roof, gun in hand, was his quarry. His back was to Alex and he was staring up at the sky as if looking for something. _Something such as a chopper. _He must have heard the door open, for he turned from searching the sky to look at the teen spy.

"I'm afraid you failed, Victor," Alex called across the building, rather nonchalantly.

Victor smirked and started across the building towards Alex. "No, I'm afraid that you're wrong, little Alex. Actually, that's not quite true. I did fail in one part of my mission, but that wasn't what I really came for."

"Really?" Alex was half inclined to not believe him and decide that it was just a ruse to buy time, but he was curious. "What could possibly be more important?"

"You haven't guessed yet?" he sneered. "It's you, Alex."

"It's about time…" Alex couldn't exactly say he was surprised at this revelation. Considering the fact that he'd saved the world about a dozen times now, it was actually surprising someone _hadn't _come after him yet.

"It is really." Alex saw Victor's hand tighten on his gun as if he was about to raise it. "And I have to say that I'm disappointed." Alex shifted his feet ever so slightly on the asphalt roof of the building. "I expected someone more…. well, just more." Alex bit back the comeback that rose to his mouth. "I'm truly am sorry, Alex."

The gun came up and two shots were fired in quick succession to where Alex had been standing, but he was no longer there. The moment the gun had come up, Alex had dived to the side, the bullets going over him and thudding into the door to the stairwell.

"Idiot, boy!" Victor snarled, realizing he had missed his target. "You're just making this harder for yourself."

"Yeah, people have told me that before," Alex said, getting to his feet. "It ended up turning out better for me than for them, though."

"Not this time, Alex, not this time…" Victor raised the gun again, aiming it at Alex.

Alex's eyes darted around the bare top of the building. There was nothing to use as a weapon. _Damn you, MI6! _He clenched his hands into fists, his only weapons. Never bring a knife to a gun fight, that's what Jimmy said in _The Untouchables_…. well, it was even worse to bring your fists to one.

Not wasting another moment, Alex darted forward, zigzagging back and forth so as to avoid the bullets. Then the gunshots ceased and Alex heard Victor swearing. Looking at the man, he saw him release the magazine in his gun and pull a second one out of his pocket. _Bit too slow, unfortunately for him. _Reaching Victor, Alex aimed a kick at his hand, sending the gun spinning across the asphalt. A hard right hook to the man's jaw sent him to the ground, stunned.

Alex switched on the communication device in the watch Smithers had given him. "I've got the guy down. There were no fatalities, but I think he has friends. He was waiting for a chopper to pick him up." Alex turned away from Victor and let his eyes sweep the sky, looking for the stunned man's getaway plan. A moment later he got a garbled reply asking for his position. "Er…. on top of some building…." Alex said, walking towards the edge of the roof so as to get some bearing as to where he was. Finding a street sign, he continued, "It's the building on the corner of-" Something hit his left shoulder, hard, the impact pushing him forward. Stumbling, Alex wobbled precariously over the edge of the roof. Pain exploded in his shoulder as he tried to windmill his arms to keep his balance. But it was no use.

As he toppled over the edge of the roof, Alex scrabbled for a handhold with his right hand. He supposed that he was extremely lucky, for his fall was halted when his fingers caught on the gutter attached to the edge of the roof. Alex clung to it with his good hand, silently begging that MI6 would show up.

Victor appeared at the edge of the roof and looked down at Alex. He had retrieved his gun and it was now hanging loosely at his side. "Mistake number one: Never, ever turn your back on your enemy."

"Bit too late to be telling me now…. don't you think?" Alex said, his speech interrupted by the strain clinging to the gutter with only his right hand.

"Too late for you." Victor smirked down at him. "Goodbye, Alex."

He then stomped his foot down upon the fingers that kept the teenager from falling. Alex could feel the bones breaking in his fingers and those fingers slipping off the gutter, unable to hold him up any longer. And then he was falling, falling through the air to the street below.

**And…. that's all you get at the moment! Confusing? It'll be explained when we borrow the Tardis and travel back about…. a few days or so! Now, my fine feathered friends, it's 3:50 am and I'm in the middle of the Return of the King, so if you'll excuse me…. I must bid you a fond farewell! **


End file.
